Well, here's chapter four! Sorry for the delay. Oh, and Shippo just kinda…disappeared. He's mentioned a couple times in this chapter, but he's not really going to play a big part…or any part, really…Sorry to anyone who's a big Shippo fan! Also, Hinamori comes! Well, sort of. She's mention at the end, and will officially make an appearance in the next chapter. To make up for not having her in here yet, though, we get to see a very strange combination of villains. Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: If you really think I own Bleach or InuYasha, you have serious problems.

"There's both a Hollow and a demon coming this way!"

Hitsugaya cursed his luck as his vice-captain ran over to him. "The Hollow doesn't appear to be particularly strong," Matsumoto continued, "but I couldn't judge the demon's strength."

"And why did you lead them here, Matsumoto?" The icy captain asked, gesturing to Sango with a quick nod of his head. The strawberry-blonde shifted her weight from one foot to another nervously. "Well, I could have defeated the Hollow, but, well, with the demon and all…and I just thought you should know…" Hitsugaya sighed. "Yes, yes, I got it. InuYasha, do you think you could take care of the demon?"

The hanyou folded his arms across his chest as he stood up. "I guess I don't really have much of a choice, do I?" he muttered, drawing his Tetsusaiga as the creatures burst into the clearing. The demon was a large spider demon with large pincers near its mouth; the Hollow looked like any ordinary one of its kind, with nothing special about it aside from the large horn on its head.

"Die, bastard!" InuYasha yelled, jumping towards the demon and bringing his blade down in the process. The spider moved so that it only had one of its legs cut off; it began roaring in pain as it stumbled backward. "What's the big deal?" the hanyou asked with a smirk. "You got eight of 'em!"

Meanwhile, Matsumoto had also begun her attack. Hitsugaya started to follow but stopped when Sango let out a soft moan. Turning to look at the Taijiya, he sighed as he realized that he had to stay behind and protect her. He released the grip on his Zanpakuto and begrudgingly plopped down on a rock to watch the battle.

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"What? It's gone!"

Kagome stood near the Bone Eater's Well, staring at the spot where her backpack used to be. "I know I left it right here! I wonder what happened to it…"

"Maybe some demon or something ate it," Ichigo suggested, leaning against a tree. He nearly fell over when he received a fierce glare from Kagome. "Erm, or not…" Kagome continued to glare at him for a moment, then sighed. "Poor Sango…I hope she's alright…"

"I'm sure she's fine," Ichigo assured her. "I mean, the brat's with her, and so is your demon friend. They won't let anything happen to her." Kagome gave him a small smile. "I guess…Thanks, Kurosaki-kun."

Ichigo scratched his neck awkwardly. "Yeah, well, we should get back to the others and see if there's anything we can do. You know, even without your medicine. Why do you have such modern stuff anyway?"

"I'm from the future…Or, I guess in your case, the present," Kagome explained as they climbed back on Kirara. "I can travel back in time through the well. How did you guys get here, anyway?"

"Who knows?" Ichigo replied, shrugging. "I think Soul Society had some sort of device that let us come here. Waah!" Kagome reached out and grabbed his arm before he fell off Kirara, who had just taken off. "Did I ever mention that I hate flying on this thing?"

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"What is going on here?"

Miroku stood clutching the herbs that he and Rukia had collected, the female Shinigami standing beside him. Across from them stood a Hollow – with a swarm of large insects swarming around them. "What are the Saimyosho doing here?"

"Saim-what?" Rukia said, giving the monk a confused look. "What are those things?" As she spoke, she placed a hand on her Zanpakuto, but waited for Miroku's explanation before she jumped into an attack. "They're poisonous insects," he began. "When they're around, I can't use my Kazaana or else I'll absorb the poison." He was about to continue when the Hollow lunged at them.

"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!" Rukia yelled, drawing her sword from its sheath. The blade turned white and a ribbon of the same color formed from the hilt. Miroku watched in awe, realizing that he had never seen the female Shinigami use her Zanpakuto before; until now, it had seemed that her companions had been doing most of the fighting. He couldn't help but notice how…beautiful the white blade looked in the blazing sunlight.

"Some no Mai, Tsukishirou!" At this, a circle appeared on the ground around the Hollow; a moment later a light shot up towards the sky from the circle, enveloping the creature and freezing it. When it was completely frozen, she jumped at it and slashed it with her Zanpakuto, destroying it.

"That was…amazing," Miroku said as Rukia landed gracefully on the ground, sheathing her sword. She gave a small smile before looking around. "Hey…those bugs are gone." Miroku looked, and sure enough, the Saimyosho were nowhere to be found.

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"Hmm, those bugs worked very well, Naraku. The monk didn't use his pesky Kazaana, just as you said. That thing could be very troublesome for my poor Hollows."

"Yes, they are quite useful," Naraku said, turning his gaze away from Kanna's mirror to look at his companion. "Although if I'm not mistaken, all of your precious Hollows have been defeated so far." The images in the mirror shifted so that now it was focused on Hitsugaya's group.

"Ah, but so have your demons," his companion pointed out, a small smile on his face. "But no matter. It will all be worth it in time."

"Yes, I suppose you're right," Naraku chuckled. "Still, I don't know why you've taken an interest in her of all people. If anyone, I would say to go after Kagome, since she's an annoying little pest and needs to be taken care of."

"I have my reasons," the figure beside him replied, gazing intently at the battle going on in the mirror. "And it appears that the little brat of a captain has started to figure her abilities out as well. After all, he's being so…protective of her." As he spoke, Hitsugaya jumped in front of the sleeping Sango and attacked the Hollow that had been approaching her, while Shippo ran around yelling random things.

"And of course, this will be beneficial to you as well," he continued. "While they're busy worrying about her, it will be easy for you to take care of the pesky hanyou. Everybody wins."

"Except for them, of course," Naraku added, watching as the demon was destroyed by InuYasha and the Hollow by Hitsugaya. "This should be interesting…Aizen."

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Sango was walking along the beach, the wind blowing through her hair and sand squishing between her toes. Staring up at the sky, she felt a small rain drop land on her nose. "That's odd…there aren't any clouds in the sky…" she thought as she stopped, gazing at the blazing sun. "Hey, Kohaku, did you feel that?" she asked, turning to her brother. "I think it's raining."

Kohaku smiled. "That's wasn't rain, Big Sister. That was blood." Sango's eyes widened as he continued. "That's the blood of Father and all the others that you failed to save. Father, me, our comrades…We all died right in front of you, and you couldn't do a thing to stop it. But Naraku brought me back with the Jewel shard, so that I could live. And now I'm going to kill you, Big Sister, since you let me die."

Sango felt a sharp pain in her back as blood began spilling from the scar she had first gotten from her brother. Kohaku was now behind her, still smiling. "Now we can go together, Big Sister," he said, reaching behind him and reaching into his back for the Jewel shard that sustained his life.

"No, Kohaku! Stop!" Sango yelled, tears welling up in her eyes. Kohaku only smiled. "It's too late. Goodbye, Sister."

"Kohaku!" Sango sat straight up, panting heavily. Realizing it was only a dream, she looked around and saw that it was night, and everyone else was sleeping: Shinigami, demon, and human alike. She noticed that her head hurt, and it took her a moment to remember what had happened.

"So, you're finally awake?" Sango jumped and spun around to see Hitsugaya staring at her. "H-Hitsugaya-kun, I thought you were asleep…" The icy captain sighed. "Someone had to stay awake and watch after you, you know." Sango turned slightly red and looked down at the ground. "Right…"

"These herbs that the monk and Kuchiki gathered work pretty well," he said, holding up a few leaves that were left over. They were silent for a moment before he continued. "Why the hell didn't you tell me there was poison on the needle?"

"I was a little busy fighting at the time!" Sango snapped, then gasped softly. "Sorry, I didn't mean that…I don't know where it came from…" Hitsugaya cut her off. "Whatever. Just go back to sleep. I highly doubt that you're fully recovered, and we still need to train you to fight Hollows." Sango nodded and lied down on the ground, having flashbacks of her dream before falling asleep.

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"Are you sure you're alright now, Sango?" Kagome asked the next morning. The Taijiya smiled. "Yes, I'm fine, Kagome," she replied, though she still felt a little…strange. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something still didn't feel right. She decided to shrug it off, however, seeing as how she had already delayed her friends enough.

"Well then, today we will start your training," Hitsugaya said, coming up behind her. He turned to address everyone. "Kurosaki, you'll be with Kagome; Kuchiki, you'll be with the monk, since you're already acquainted. Matsumoto, you'll train InuYasha and the small demon. And you," he looked at Sango, "will be training with me. Got it?" Everyone nodded, not wanting to argue with the small captain. "Good. Now begin." Everyone got with their respective partners, and the training session began.

"So, what are we doing exactly?" InuYasha, who had a puzzled expression on his face, asked. "Well, Taichou said that the best way for you guys to fight the Hollows is to learn kidou!" Matsumoto replied, smiling. The hanyou blinked a couple of time. "Kid-what?" The female Shinigami sighed. "Maybe it'll just be easier if I show you. Destructive Art #27: Blue Fire!" She aimed her outstretched hand towards a tree, which instantly caught fire.

InuYasha stared at the blazing tree. "Right…And how the hell am I supposed to do that?" Matsumoto thought a moment, then clapped her hands together. "I know! Try gathering your reiatsu – erm, I mean your demonic energy – together in your hands, forming a ball; like this." She once again held out her hand, this time palm up, and closed her eyes in focus. A moment later, a pink ball of energy formed. InuYasha stared again before asking, "Why is it pink?"

The others were having similar problems, but not as many as Ichigo and Kagome. They stood staring at each other for a moment before Ichigo called out, "Yo, Toushirou! What am I supposed to do?" at which the captain just sighed and walked calmly over to him. "I told you yesterday," he said coldly, "you're supposed to be teaching her kidou." He then walked back over to his partner, but not before looking over his shoulder saying, "And do not call me Toushirou!"

He arrived at the waiting Sango, who was sitting on a rock and stroking Kirara gently. "Sorry about that," he said, sounding irritated. "Now, where were we?" He was about to go on when she interrupted him. "Why did you choose to be my partner?"

"Wha?"

"I'm not as strong as the others, right? I already know. It just seems like someone as strong as you would want to train someone more powerful." Sango said this softly while staring intently into his eyes, which narrowed slightly at the statement. "Look, you're-"

"Hey, Toushirou! I just remembered that I never learned kidou!" Hitsugaya cursed under his breath as he glared at the orange-haired teen. "Why didn't you say that earlier? Matsumoto!" A very frustrated-looking vice-captain walked over to him, blowing a stray strand of hair from her face. He cast a sideways glance at the demon-slayer, who had resumed her silent petting of the demon cat. He took Matsumoto off to the side.

"I want you to head back to Soul Society and give this to Mayuri at the Research Facility," he said, taking the poisoned needle from his pocket and handing it to his vice-captain. "The demon slayer has been acting a little weird since she woke up last night, and I want to know what's in this poison. Also," he began hesitantly, "bring Hinamori back with you."

Footnotes:

For those of you who haven't read the manga or just forgot, here are the translations for Rukia's Zanpakuto and attack.

Sode no Shirayuki – Sleeve of White Snow

Some no Mai, Tsukishirou – First Dance, White Moon

The initial release of the Zanpakuto is "Mai, Sode no Shirayuki!" Mai literally means 'dance', so I just translated it to make it easier.

Author's notes:

I really have no idea how Kagome and the others would address the Shinigami, and vice-versa. So, I'm just kinda making it up. If you think it should be something else, please don't hesitate to tell me. Also, the same goes with the kidou. I don't think anyone really knows how it's learned, but if you have some ideas, I would love to hear them.

And thus ends chapter four! Things are getting a little more interesting, huh? Please review, as they make me very happy and make me want to update faster. Ja ne!